EMA Returns Cocke County To Normal Status

Cocke County reached a milestone on Friday (6/27). Cocke County EMA Director Joe Esway Friday morning returned the county to Threat Condition Five status. Threat Condition Five means there are no watches or warnings and Emergency Response Agencies are answering calls indicative of day-to-day life.
Esway says that the county has been at Threat Condition Four the last few months as cleanup from Hurricane Helene was still underway. He says that raising the county back to Threat Condition Five does not mean that the recovery is complete, as there are many in the county still reeling from the effects of Helene and will be for some time. The normalization of the threat condition level means that things are back to normal from an Emergency Operations standpoint.
Esway lifted the county back to Threat Condition Five at 9:40am on June 27. That is exactly nine months to the moment after the first emergency call regarding the Hurricane Helene disaster was received on September 27, 2024.